Running Out of Words to Say
by Tarlyn
Summary: Maximum Ride, track star, is at the top of the school and doesn't think she needs a boyfriend. Until handsome and quiet Fang Burke comes around that is. It's love and first sight for both of them and he has nothing to say to her or anyone else.
1. Track Stars

I ran, not caring that the rain was pouring down on me, beating to ground in an inconstant pattern, like a soft, nearly silent smatter or applauses for me. My feet hit the ground like a rhythmic drum, always the same, never changing, never stopping. I rounded the curve, where coach, dad, was waiting for me to stop. Not like I would. I wasn't planning to stop until coach decides to have us do the relays. That's me, Maximum Ride, one of the best track stars.

"Max! Get off the track or we're never going to be able to practice relays!" yelled coach. I smirked at him and ran one more lap before curving off and ducking under the rain shelter, soaked to the bone. He smiled at me and shook his head. "That's my girl, never wanting to stop running. But if you get sick before Saturday's meet, you'll never hear the end of this." I rolled my eyes.

"I never get sick, coach, and you know that." I shook my head like a wet dog and sent droplets of water flying everywhere. Some of the preppy rich girls, like Lissa, moved away, looking disgusted. Not that I'm not a preppy rich girl myself; all of us here at Alpine High are. Some are just nicer than others. Another preppy rich girl, Nudge, just grinned.

"That's amazing!" she said, once I got close enough. I smirked. Nudge is one of my best friends here at school, the other one being J. J., or Jennifer Joy.

"How do you and Nudge do that?" J. J. demanded. "My parents have tried training me since I could walk and I can't even run as fast as you!"

"It's all in the head," Nudge said cheerfully. "It's like the Little Engine that could. She thought she could and so she kept saying to herself 'I think I can, I think I can and eventually, she got to the other side of the big, big mountain! It's just goes to show that you can do anything if you put your mind to it! And–"

"Enough, Nudge," said J. J. and I at the same time, covering her mouth. Nudge may be fast on her feet and have the greatest stamina of people her age, but it's nothing compared to how fast she can talk.

"Okay, okay, fine. My cousin is transferring to this school. Isn't that awesome? He's about your age so I think he'll be in your grade."

"Cool," said J. J. "When's he coming?"

"Tomorrow. He's really excited to come here, I think." I glanced at her.

"You think?" Nudge shrugged.

"He's really quiet and he doesn't say a whole lot; it's like he's mute. He also doesn't really show facial expressions. It's kind of weird, if you ask me–"

"But we didn't ask you so if you would please stop talking," said J. J. cheerfully. "Oh look; it stopped raining." Nudge's face lit up.

"That's great! It means that I probably won't slip and get mud on my tracksuit!" J. J. and I rolled our eyes and gave each other the look that meant we knew what the other was thinking. Nudge is like a mini fasionista who hates getting down and dirty which is pretty ironic because she's on track.

"Relays! Pick your team of three, second best gets ice cream, assuming Max, Nudge, and J. J. come in first again." Coach always did that because the three of us are always on a team and we come in first nine out of ten times anyways. And besides, the three of us went out for ice cream with my dad after track meets anyways.

So we ran the relays; Nudge, J. J., and I came in first, as usual. There was a reason why we were track stars.


	2. Ice Cream and Angels

"Mmm…" I smiled dreamily as I scooped another spoonful of smooth and creamy mint chocolate chip and orange sherbet, my two great tastes that taste great together. Besides, they were my favorite and always readily available here at Chocó Coco. J. J. laughed at the expression on my face.

"You look like a lovesick girl dreaming about her crush," she teased. Nudge, my sisters, Ella and Angel, my brother, Gazzy, and my dad burst out into laughter while I glared menacingly at them.

"I do _not_," I protested.

"You're right, you don't," said Ella comfortingly. Gazzy just snorted and Angel had no idea what was going on.

"See? Ella believes me." Nudge smirked.

"You should really get a boyfriend, Max. You've _got_ to have a crush on _someone_." I rolled my eyes.

"Max? What's a crush? Is it when you break something?" asked Angel innocently.

"No, Angie, it's when you li –"

"Nudge!" Ella and I yelled at the same time. Nudge blushed.

"Oops, sorry," she said sheepishly.

"Besides," I said once Angel and Gazzy got up with dad to go pay the bill, "I don't really need a guy in my life to make it perfect." J. J. and Nudge gawked openly; even Ella looked surprised.

"Are you sure?" asked J. J. in disbelief.

"I'm positive, Jennifer Joy." She wrinkled her nose.

"You're not supposed to call me by my real name!" she complained. I smirked.

"Oh well. Too bad." We got up and walked over to the door. Then we paused, as usual. "3…2…1…go!" We tore through the parking lot, heading to the very back corner of it furthest away from the door. I, as usual, got there first.

"No fair!" whined Nudge. "You always get there first! One of these times, you've got to let me or J. J. win or we're going to get discouraged and depressed because we're not good enough and then we're going to get all slow during track meets because we're all sad and stuff and–"

"Are you three coming or not?" asked my dad, sticking his head out the car window and laughing. He always parks as close to the door as possible for Ella, Gazzy, and Angel's benefit and then drive over to this far end just to pick us up after we finish our race.

"Coming, Mr. Ride," said J. J. cheerfully, hopping into the car. Nudge turned around in her seat and started talking to Ella. Nudge and Ella are actually in the same grade and they're best friends and do EVERYTHING together. Except for track. That's her thing with me and J. J.

"So how's that art project coming along? You know, the one I really like with all the angels?" Ella smiled.

"How many times do I have to tell you? They're not angels. They're just normal people with wings."

"Well they look like angels to me so that' what I'm going to call them. So how's that angel art project coming along?"

"If you _must_ know," said Ella in fake exasperation, "I'm almost done. I just need to add one more winged person to fill in the empty space and I'm done." Nudge smiled.

"That's great! It'll look amazing! It already does at any rate and then you could put it online and then maybe you'll get FAMOUS." Ella laughed.

"I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself."

"Ooh, is it good to be famous?" asked Angel.

"Of course," said me, dad, J. J. and Nudge.

"Absolutely not," said Ella at the same time. The three of us (dad was driving) looked at Ella strangely. "Can you imagine having no privacy? If you're famous, everyone is going to want to know what you're up to every second of the day! That'd be awful!" I rolled my eyes.

"Ellie, wouldn't you love it if everyone saw your works of art for what they are, works of art?" I asked, calling her by her pet name. She nodded slowly.

"But what about paparazzi and all those crazy people who are all obsessed and stuff?" she asked worriedly. Nudge smirked.

"They always bother athletes, actors, and singers. Artists? Everyone loves them, but they're not much for who you're dating and stuff like that. It's sad, really."

"Hey, are you and J. J. coming over?" Gazzy asked brightly. Gazzy _loved_ Nudge and J. J. because when they were around, Ella and I were obliged to let them play with us. Nudge shrugged.

"I don't know. I'll have to call. How about you, J. J.?"

"I can come. My mum's out of town so it's just me and Donnie at home." Donnie is what she calls her older brother, Donald. He's really nice but he's a real geek so he spends most of his life on the computer and doesn't really care what J. J. does as long as she doesn't get him into trouble.

"You can borrow my phone," said dad. He rummaged through the many compartments of our car deftly until he found his ancient Blackberry and handed it to me who handed it to Nudge. After a quick phone call to her mom, Nudge grinned.

"I can stay for dinner." Angel and Gazzy cheered.


	3. Wolfy

**Due to the extreme number of positive responses towards this story, I think I'll be updating this a little more. By the way, there's a poll on my page if you don't want this to be put on hold; I'm writing a lot of stories at the same time so I'll have to slack on at least one of them.**

"Ooh, I smell something good," said J. J. My mom poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled warmly at us all.

"I hope you girls are hungry for some Italian. We've got lasagna in the oven tonight!" We cheered, Nudge being the loudest of us all. When Nudge grows up, she wants to be either a famous track star or a fashion designer and Italy is one of the fashion centrals of the world. They're weird matches, I know, but that's what she wants.

"Where's Ari?" asked Gazzy, looking around the house for his little brother. (A/N Can you believe it? In the books, Ari was seven as far as we know until he died. And Gazzy was eight until their birthday party in FANG so technically, Ari was younger than Gazzy.)

"He's at Devon's house. He'll be back in about fifteen minutes, give or take."

"Oh, okay."

"We'll be down later," I said as we all clambered up the stairs. Angel and Gazzy went to play on the computer, Nudge went with Ella to look at her new painting, and J. J. followed me into my room.

"So why won't you get a boyfriend?" she demanded the moment the door was closed. I sighed.

"I don't need one right now. It just doesn't seem to interest me. I mean, I'm not a lesbian but I'm just not really that interested in guys. Maybe I'll meet the perfect someone some day."

"Uh huh. Sure… I mean, there are already so many guys who want you! Like Kevin, and Ace, and Dylan…" She drooled when she said the last one. I snickered and she blushed. The whole school knew that Dylan was the most 'gorgeous boy to ever grace Alpine with the most perfect honey-blond hair and sky blue eyes' and that he wanted the only person he couldn't get. Me. I really didn't get it. Pretty much every girl looked at him with awe because of the fact that he was impossible to get (still pining after me) and the guys looked at him will either admiration for his unofficial harem or jealousy for the same thing.

"And you just want pretty-boy Dylan to be your lover," I teased. She then blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"Shut up," she muttered. "Besides, keep doing that and I'll taunt you endlessly when you get a boyfriend of your own."

"Ha!" I burst out loud, "you have absolutely nothing over my head."

"Well I don't care if she has a bowl of peanut butter over your head. It's dinner and you know mom won't let anyone eat until we're all seated," said Ari. I grinned.

"Coming, wolfy," I said cheerfully. To me, Ari's always been wolfy because for his first birthday, my mom and I went to the giant toy store in New York City (we were living there back then) to pick out a present for him. We went through the entire store and mom picked out this ridiculous looking fuzzy duck. I didn't really like it so she agreed to take me around the store again for a present from me. (I refused to go halfsies on that ludicrous yellow thing.) And then, I spotted, under a huge pile of angel teddies, a lone stuffed wolf toy. It was small, gray, and absolutely perfect with amber eyes that looked up innocently. Well, mom refused to buy it. Later, I went out shopping with dad and we ended up in that store again because it started raining. There, I begged him for the wolf for Ari's birthday and because I was daddy's little girl, he bought it for me.

Needless to say, mom was completely in the dark. She had no idea of it, even when we came home and dad discreetly wrapped it. On Ari's birthday, he looked around at all the presents he got and then found mine. Mom had no idea what it was and opened it and out tumbled the little wolf. Mom didn't look to happy to see it at first, but it was love at first sight for Ari who latched onto it immediately. Mom doesn't mind it anymore, even if it does look a bit shabby and worse for the wear at some parts and it doesn't exactly fit under the category of 'rich family belongings' like things should here in Rich city. Anyways, Ari loves that toy so much that his favorite animal became a wolf. I claim that it's all my doing, dad claims that he has a part in it, and mom's just glad that Ari's happy. Because that's all anyone ever cares about here. That, and our looks.

**As a side note, I had to go to a high school oriantation last night (reason why I couldn't update) and one of the teachers was named...Mr. Burke. If I have him, I think I might have to change Fang's currently made last name.**


	4. The Rich and the Famous

Dinner was good, as always. After dinner, J.J. and I went back to my room to talk for a little while longer. Nudge's housekeeper came to pick up her and J.J., leaving me and Ella here.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" asked Ella eagerly.

"Oh, not much. Why?"

"Because I heard you guys talk about boyfriends. Who's yours?" I laughed and threw a pillow at her.

"No one and you know that," I said.

"Okay, okay!" she shouted, trying to dodge the pillows. "Stop! The housekeeper's going to throw a fit when she sees this!"

"She's getting paid, isn't she?" I asked. "Now go back to your own room."

"Fine!" I watched her skip out of my room and went to sleep.

The next morning, J.J. picked up me and Ella for school in her blue Ferrari which she got for her sixteenth birthday about a month ago. Nudge was already sitting in the backseat with Iggy.

"Good morning Nudge. Mornin' Igster. Why weren't you at yesterday's practice?" I asked.

"Mom and dad wanted me to meet someone and I had a headache from all the rain." I raised a brow.

"A headache from all the rain?" asked Ella in surprise. "But I thought you loved rain!"

"Not running in it, I don't," he said, shuddering. "Remember the time we were having a meet against Kipling and it was raining? Worst meet of the season."

"We still won," J.J. reminded him.

"Barely." She shrugged and continued driving. Nudge and Ella were talking animatedly with Iggy. In the rearview mirror, J.J. and I exchanged knowing looks. Ella and Nudge defiantly had a crush on Iggy. I wondered whose heart he would break first…

"We're here," announced J.J., parking her car with all the other expensive cars. She smoothed out her short white jean skirt and pink polo top and touched up her make up slightly in the rearview mirror before getting out. I did the same with my white two layer skirt and multicolored hoodie. She handed me a breath mint and I gave her a stick of gum. We smiled at each other before putting on our sunglasses.

"Just in case," we said at the same time and smirked. We were always like this.

"Iggy! Are you coming?" I shouted. He was still talking to Nudge and Ella. Makes you wonder.

"Yeah. Bye girls." He winked at them and came with us. I rolled my eyes.

"They're absolutely smitten with you," teased J.J. "You really shouldn't lead them on like that."

"I can't help it; I'm a track star. I was born to lead girls on."

"Nudge is practically my sister and Ella _is_ my sister," I said. "Don't hurt them, 'kay?"

"Whatever you say, Queen Maximum," he said gallantly. I clocked him in the head. "Ouch."

"You boys have no resistant to pain," said J.J. Iggy shot her a dirty look. "What? Can you deny it? Didn't think so. Are you coming to today's practice?"

"Unless my mom calls me up and tells me that I have to meet with Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah or something, yeah." He's actually not kidding; his parents are both really successful actors and Iggy's their only son, not to mention the fact that he has the smallest ego of any child of movie stars I know and I know a lot. Like Lissa, for example. Lissa's mom is a small time stunt double and her dad is an actor and she flaunts it every chance she gets, especially in front of Nudge. Nudge's dad is one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but her mom is an alcoholic and nicotine addict. They're divorced, but there was a big announcement in the news when it happened and Lissa won't let Nudge live it down.

"Oh, by the way, Max," said J.J., "my mom was wondering if you could ask your parents if they're free this Saturday; she and my dad are coming home this weekend and they want to take them out for dinner." J.J.'s dad is a famous chef and her mom's a fashion designer who typically goes to Paris and Milan and the like.

"Oh, they'd love to," I said. Okay, my dad would love to, my mom would probably be wary of everything she ate; she's doctor and my dad's a coach, as you know already.

"Hey," said Iggy, "I'm pretty sure I've never seen someone like that before around here." He was pointing to someone whose back was facing towards us. He was tall, about my height, and wearing slightly ripped dark clothing that covered up most of him and had hair that was long for a guy and also black. From the parts of his skin I could see, he looked sort of tan. Iggy was right; there hadn't been a person here like this before. No typical Alpine student would have ever dared to have shown up dresses as shabby as THAT! "Who do you think he is?"

"I don't know," I said, just as J.J. stifled a scream. "What, Jenny?"

"We HAVE to get to class NOW!" she said, pointing at one of the clocks in the hallway. "The bell's about to ring!" She then proceeded to drag us to our first class. I looked back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy's face, but he had already disappeared.

**Guess who?**


	5. Nick

"Didn't you guys explode something last time?" asked J.J. warily. Iggy and I were taking turn adding different sort of chemicals to our potion thingy. We were supposed to be creating something that had never been seen by our teacher before. Iggy shrugged.

"This is AP chemistry," said Iggy, watching the vial with an extreme intensity. (A/N: Yes, he can see.) "We'll survive and if we don't, they'll say nice things at our funerals anyways."

"You sound certain." I rolled my eyes.

"J.J., we're Alpine kids and some of the ritziest kids that ever came into this school. Besides, our parents are all famous and stuff; people would probably try to sneak into the funerals uninvited. Funeral crashers." J.J. frowned.

"But that's so rude!"

"Sweetheart," said Iggy, lazily draping one arm over her shoulders, "that's just how life is."

"Stop it!" I demanded.

"Stop what?"

"Stop shuddering, J.J.! You're moving the table and I can't concentrate! Get your arm off of her!"

"Oh, sorry J.J.," said Iggy apologetically.

"It's okay. I'm just cold." It was pretty cold in here…

"You can borrow my jacket," I said, never taking my eyes off the eyedropper.

"Okay. Thanks Max." She shrugged it on. "Hey, isn't that the new kid you guys were talking about this morning?" I still stared at the eyedropper.

"Yup. That's him. I was wondering who he was. And there he goes."

"Iggy, hand me the blue liquid, will you?"

"Here you go." I felt a small vial tap lightly against my open hand and I grasped it. "What do you want with it anyways?"

"Who knows?" I dropped it in and the boiling liquid turned black. "Huh."

"Maximum Ride, you have better not created tar again," warned Mr. Kelvin. (That's seriously his name.) The last time we had to create things in science, I might have accidentally created some sort of super gooey tar which took weeks to get rid of. Eventually, we reheated the substance and started using it as rubber glue. Unfortunately, it stuck a little tighter than we would have liked. Some freshman thought it was dry and poked it with her hair. Very stupid move. They had to cut her hair off (she was crying) and it resulted in a very fuzzy sticking job.

"It's not tar, Mr. Kelvin, we promise," said Iggy. "I'm not exactly sure what this is though…"

"Let me take a look at it." Our teacher came over and examined it from a distance. "Well, I have no idea what this is and I've defiantly not seen it before. Okay, you pass." We smirked like crazy.

"If only we could pass all our classes like this," said J.J. wistfully.

"You didn't even do anything," Iggy teased her. She blushed.

"Shut up, you. And we can go to lunch now, right?"

By whatever lucky chance, we all had the same lunch period. Nudge and Ella resumed their flirtation talk with Iggy while Ella and I helped each other with homework. At some point, Nudge looked up and smiled really, really wide.

"Hey you guys! That's my cousin! Nick! Over here!" The new kid, the one who was all dark and mysterious, paused. Then he turned around to face us and I felt my breath hitch and my heartbeat speeding. From what I could gather of Nick's expression, he was feeling the same thing. It was like an adrenaline rush I got from running track, but I wasn't running. I was practically motionless physically but I could have been sprinting a 100 yard dash and it would have probably felt the same to me. Blood was rushing through me like the waves from white water rafting, only it was sharper and fiercer; it hurt but it felt almost…good.

"Nick, is it?" asked Iggy. Nick nodded and I was snapped out of my thoughts. The rest of them didn't seem to notice the feeling of discomfort between us.

"He prefers to be called Fang, right Fang?" Nick, Fang, nodded at Nudge.

"Well Fang, Nick, it's nice to have some male blood in the group."

"I've always wondered," said Nudge thoughtfully, "why Iggy's the only guy in our group. I mean, it's not like he's gay or anything and there's nothing really that make us different than anyone else and all…"

"Actually, Nudge, there is a difference," said Ella. "Other than me, everyone in this group is in track and you guys are good at it too; top in the class. And I'm just here because of Max."

"So? There's like so many other people who run track and all!"

"But you guys are the best and the other people who can do close to well are either sluts, prostitutes, or playboys." Nudge mused over it.

"True… So, Fang. This is Ella, Iggy, J.J., and Max. They're my friends. And your friends."


	6. Crush

**Okay reviewers, you asked for it. (GIANT TACKLE BEAR HUG!) Did I strangle anyone?**

"You _like_ him," teased Ella she walked me to the track. She had art club after school today so she didn't have to catch the bus or call our housekeeper to take her home. I didn't say anything. She gasped. "So you _do_ like him!"

"I do not," I muttered, blushing beet red. "He just looks…strange, that's all."

"It's not nice to stare."

"So? Admit it, he looked weird."

"But I didn't stare at him like he was a god."

"Shut up. I don't like him. I don't like any guy in this school unless you count Iggy and he's just a friend. Heck, I don't like anyone except for maybe Christian Roderick."

"Who?"

"The actor?" (A/N: Let's get this straight: as far as I know, he's cast as Fang in the Maximum Ride movie (Coming out in 2013; so excited! Anyways…) and if it's not him, it's Avan Jogia. Avan looks more like Fang to me, but there is more evidence that Christian will have the part.)

"Uh…"

"You don't know who he is?"

"No…"

"And you dare call yourself my sister," I said in mock horror. She laughed. "It's not funny!"

"Is too… Hey, isn't that…?" I turned around. The new kid. Aw, great.

"You looked thoroughly disappointed, Maximum," teased Nudge as she rocked back on her heals, looking like the adorable little girl she was.

"No, not at all! What are you talking about?" She shrugged.

"I must have been imagining things. Hi Ella!" She waved vigorously and my little sister waved back.

"I really have to go to art club right now though," said Ella. "Tell dad I say 'hi'!"

"Sure, Ellie! Bye!" I waved goodbye as she ran back to the school building. Then I turned to face my fears, which, ironically or coincidentally, missing again.

"You look like you're about to fight an army of spiders," said Iggy with a lazy smile. He sat next to J.J., who smirked.

"Spiders are defiantly ferocious enough," I said smoothly. Nudge laughed.

"Not nearly! You have _defiantly_ never met the fashion designers in J.J.'s mom's department! You touch their stuff and they don't care why; they'll just kick you out and threaten to sue!"

"Oh, they aren't all that bad," said J.J. "My mum's pretty nice unless you break something."

"Your mom's the only nice one there."

"Okay, well, that might be true…"

"Are we running or not?" I demanded. Nudge shrugged and looked around. Something caught her eye and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What?"

"Ew! Look who has her hands all over my cousin!" Sure enough, Lissa was all over Fang like an ugly on an ape. Blech…

"If you want to show affection, show it after class or before class, not during class," said coach, dad, not looking up from his clipboard. "Ah, Mr. Griffiths, so kind of you to join us here today."

"Sorry, coach," said Iggy apologetically. "My parents made me meet someone."

"That's alright, son. Now, ten laps around, all of you." Some people groaned. Some people hopped right to it. And then there were your stereotypical rich girl reactions.

"But that's a lot!" whined Lissa. "I just got a mani-pedi yesterday! What if I fall?" she demanded. "I'll ruin all my nails!"

"And then you'll have an excuse to go get another, err, 'mani-pedi' or whatever it is that you call it." I rolled my eyes as my friends and I hit the track. The thing is, I'm too concerned about my running so my nails are always ripped and torn by the ground when I greet it. Ella, who's concerned about her art, is always chipping paint off her nails which you shouldn't be doing with a manicure. Angel's too young to need one and if my mom wants one, she'll get one by herself so my dad never really bothered with it.

"Can you believe her?" hissed Iggy to me. "She's like an attention grabbing dog!"

"This is Lissa were talking about," I whispered back. "Of course she's like this."

"True…hey. The Winter Formal's in about two weeks. Who should I ask?" Uh…

"I don't know."

"Who do you think has a crush on me?"

"Honestly?"

"Yup." I looked around quickly for signs of my other two track friends. They were on the other side laughing about something.

"Ella, Nudge, and J.J." I gawked.

"Seriously?"

"You asked for the truth, didn't you? I think they like you. Well, Ella and Nudge like you. I'm not completely sure about J.J. Do you want me to steal her diary for you?" He made a face.

"Steal her diary? Are girls always this cruel to each other?"

"Hey!" screeched Lissa to one of her 'friends'. "You nearly crashed into me!"

"Well, sah-_or_-ry! It's not my fault if you're half blind!" screeched Bethany Schaffer. Lissa gasped and slapped her across the face.

"How could you!" Bethany growled and then they had a catfight. Coach had to separate them and threaten them with two hours of detention and a call home. I turned to Iggy.

"You were saying something about all girls being like this?" I asked, gesturing to what remained of the fight: spilled lip gloss and perfume along with shredded bits of clothing in ribbons and snapped necklaces scattered all over the track floor. Iggy let out a low appreciative whistle.

"I'm sorry I asked."

**Note: They live in the southern part of the United States which is why it's almost winter but there's no snow. They don't have southern accents though because 1.) It doesn't really seem right, giving the flock southern accents and 2.) Even if it did fit them, it's really hard to write because I have to say it first and then slowly pronounce it for spelling.**

**Just for the randomness of this all, did you know that this was nearly a **_**Code Lyoko**_** fanfic for Yumi and Ulrich but I decided that Max and Fang fit the parts better? You know, just saying how lucky you guys are…although if anyone's interested, I might just write another fanfic for that other cute couple. XD**


	7. Chocolate Chips

**In response to a semi-anonymous review that I had to overwhelming need to respond to: Flockgrl18, yeah, I think I'll write it, and rumor has it that they're going to have a season five of Code Lyoko with 25 episodes. I still have to find concrete proof, but at least there's hope now. :D**

**And everyone else can get a hug and a peck on the check (so not kissing anyone) and a chocolate chip cookie. (Psst, if you people will just make an account/log in, it'd be a lot easier to respond to all your reviews!)**

Iggy came over for dinner like he always does after track. But then again, he almost always comes over for dinner, track or not. His mom and dad are usually out with other people, leaving him at home so he comes for the company. And to eat food that was cooked with an oven, not radiation.

"So," said dad after dinner. He was discussing track with us again. "Our team is going against Kipling in two weeks which mean that we have to get our newest team member in shape." Uh…

"Who?" asked J.J.

"Oh, I'm sure you know him already. Nicolas Burke." Aw, great. He's on my track team too?

"He's my cousin!" squealed Nudge.

"I should have guessed," said dad sarcastically. "He talks nearly as much as you!"

"I don't think I've ever heard him say a thing," said J.J. thoughtfully.

"He doesn't talk a whole lot," admitted Nudge. "He won't unless necessary."

"He's so quiet," said Ella thoughtfully.

"We've noticed," I said.

"He's kind of cute, in the dark and mysterious sort of way," said J.J. thoughtfully. Instantly, for reasons unknown I felt something flare up inside of me and I fought to keep in contained. I won.

"I don't know," said Nudge wrinkling her nose. "He's never dated before."

"Max has yet to date someone too," Iggy reminded her.

"True," she said thoughtfully and then brightened. "Hey! Maybe you and Fangles can go on a date together!"

I did a spit take and sputtered, "What? You can't make me," even though my heart gave a little kick at the mention of that.

"You so want him!" said Nudge obviously. J.J. nodded in agreement. Traitor!

"Nuh uh!" I protested. "I've never wanted anyone ever! Why would I start now?" The other three girls looked at each other and grinned.

"Because you've never met someone as mysterious as him before," they drawled out at the same time. I now understood why they found it annoying when J.J. and I telepathically shared thoughts…

"So what?" I asked defensively. "I've never met anyone as modest Iggy before I met him. I've never met anyone more obsessed over wolves as Ari. I've never met someone more lactose intolerant than Gazzy…"

_Pbbbt_

"Agh! Gasmask!" gasped Nudge, grasping her neck in mock desperation and dropping dramatically to the floor. In the next room, Ari, Angel, and Gazzy snickered.

"Zephyr, son, I love you, but have you ever tried to stop drinking milk?" asked dad.

"We had ice cream!" he shouted back.

"Remind me to never touch the ice cream in your fridge ever again," gasped Iggy.

"Sure, whatever," I said nasally due to my pinching my nose. "There's chocolate chip cookie dough." Have I ever explained my chocolate chip cookie dough obsession? No? Well, it's not too late to explain it now.

Way back when Ella and Nudge went to overnight camp, I had more or less spent all my days with J.J. and Iggy at the park or I sweet talked our nanny into letting me bring Ari to Manga World. It was a pretty smooth, simple summer and there wasn't a single interesting thing worth mentioning (unless you count the time the nanny nearly ran over J.J.'s cat) at least until Nudge and Ella came home with all their new Girl Scout knowledge. Like how to make and bake chocolate chip cookies.

Before this, I had never had chocolate chip cookies before. Mom liked to bake, despite her busy doctor schedule. When you've got famous people asking for a checkup, you can't really say no. Anyways, mom always bakes this fancy stuff like meringues a la mode or crepe avec Chantilly or something like that. It's typically French. So when Nudge, J.J., Iggy, and I came home to be greeted by the smell of chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, we were shocked. Them, because they weren't used to my mom cooking normal stuff, me, because I had no idea what it was.

"What is this?" I asked curiously, picking one up. I nibbled it before literally chucking cookie after cookie down my throat.

"You would imagine that she's never had chocolate chip cookies before," said J.J.

"I haven't," I mumbles, spraying bit of cookie.

"Then take some more," said mom brightly. Nudge picked up the recipe.

"Hey! This is what Ella and I made at camp!"

"I know. It's been so long since I've made cookies!" I just ate more and more, murmuring incoherent words of pleasure. Dad shook his head.

"Valencia, she's going to stuff herself silly."

"Oh relax, darling. Even if she does, her metabolism is enough to counter it," my mom said, laughing. I just simply smiled and continued eating.

"Hey!" I was rudely jolted out of my memory. Ari poked his head into the room. "Daydreaming again, Max? Or talking to that little voice inside your head?"

"It's called a conscience!"

"Whatever. Want the rest of the chocolate cookie dough, Max?" I grinned.

"Sure do. Where is it? Lead me to it."

**My stomach hurts…**


	8. Faster than Me

"Before this year, I didn't even know that they offered AP English!" exclaimed J.J. while I flipped the page in my vocabulary book.

"Such eloquence," I muttered, scanning the page for any words that jumped out. _Ominous: adj. giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. The new kid's silence seemed ominous to many of the students._ I nearly did a spit take. This book really is accurate. Maybe I should call up the publisher, ask them to give the guy a pay raise…

"Fang? What did you get for number five?" asked Iggy, showing him his math homework. Saying nothing still, Fang pulled out his own homework and gave it to Iggy. "Thanks, man." Fang just nodded shortly.

"He still won't talk," J.J. whispered to me.

"I know," I whispered back. "I kind of want to hear his voice." There was the slightest movement of surprise that I caught out of the side of my eye. I glanced over at Fang who was looking at me and instantly, my heart started to beat faster and I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. I looked away from him quickly, hoping the long stands of my hair that fell out of my loose pencil-held bun would hide most of my face.

"Aw, great," muttered Iggy who looked up at the sky and winced as something hit him. "It's raining!"

"Make a run for it!" shouted J.J., gathering up her stuff at Superwoman speed and stuffing it into her backpack before darting back inside the building. I scoffed, taking my time. The large willow tree by the table we were working at which protected my books from most of the rain. I placed all my books back into my backpack and then skipped back into the building where J.J. was with Iggy and Fang.

"Remember," I said cheerfully as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, "track practice afterschool today!" Iggy groaned while J.J. shrugged indifferently. Fang, of course, didn't do a whole lot of either.

"Ice cream after meet, right?" asked J.J. I nodded and started a mental debate between chocolate chip cookie dough or orange sherbet and mint chocolate chip. Maybe even chocolate lover's delight or triple chocolate with pineapple sherbet, or cookies and cream. I didn't notice I was spacing out until Iggy conked my in the head.

"Getting lightheaded, are we?" he teased. I looked at him in surprise. "You got that empty look in your eyes, like you're here but you're not. What are you thinking about? Fang?" Fang, who was about two feet away, glanced over and looked at me expectantly.

"I was not!" I exclaimed hotly.

"Yes you were," teased J.J.

"Was not."

"Was too."

"T'was not."

"T'was too."

"Non, n'est pas."

"Oui, c'est vrai. Je voir dans ton l'œil," she said back. "Gosh, my French needs some brushing up on."

"It was pretty good," said Iggy appreciatively.

"Thanks," she said, blushing.

"It's 'Oui, il est vrai. Je le vois dans vos yeux' not whatever else it was you said," I corrected, giving Iggy the 'I told you she likes you' look that I typically gave J.J., Ella or Nudge.

"Let's just get to practice," said Iggy, flushing red. I nearly snorted and opened the door where it was raining as hard as ever, even if it was really sunny out.

"Race you," I said, dashing out. I darted out, pouring on the speed. I soon heard footstep in line with me. Iggy, probably; he was nearly as fast as me typically and could probably be faster if he was desperate. Instead, I saw tendrils of black. Fang.

He glanced over at me as I glanced over at him while we ran in near sync to the track. "You're pretty fast," I huffed. He nodded, indicating that he heard me. I looked away from him and started looking at what was to come. A muddy puddle, an overgrown shrub, both of which I would have to jump over. Neither of which I could make it over if I didn't go faster. So I poured on my insane speed, going to my near limit and clearing Fang as well as the puddle and the shrub. I smirked to myself. Epic.

_Pat pat pat pat_ I looked over in surprise. He was a little muddy and there was a small branch stuck on his shirt, but he had managed to keep up with me. We reached the shelter by the track at nearly the same time. I just looked at him in shock. Someone else came in behind and laughed.

"Well, Max, it seems like you've found someone who can take you on." Coach smirked at me. I scowled.

"Very funny, coach."

"I thought so too. Well stop pouting, will you? Your face is going to be stuck like that forever if you keep doing that, Max."

_Gloooooooooooooooom_

"Fine, be that way."

_Glooooooooooooooooooooooooom_

"Max…"

__

"Max…?"

__

"Maximum, darling…"

"Hey! You said you wouldn't call me darling anymore!" I whined. "Dad!" He laughed and I felt a hand on my shoulder. Electricity shot through me. "Yeah?" Fang gestured to my father. "What about him?" Fang frowned, like he was debating what to do. He probably didn't want to talk and I wasn't making this easy for him. As far as I was concerned, that was fine by me. "Hello?" Fang sort of sighed and rummaged through his somewhat muddy backpack and pulled out a pencil and paper.

_Is he really your dad?_

"Yes."

_Cool. I guess._

"You guess?"

_Okay, that's cool. Period. If your dad's the coach, I understand how you can run so fast._

"What does him being my dad have to do with anything?" I demanded. "My sister Ella is an artist and a dancer but she couldn't run track even if I paid her! Besides, what's your excuse for being Mr. Speedy pants?"

_I…_ He frowned and crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it in the trash. "What?" He just shook his head. "You won't tell me?" He shook his head again. "Why not?" He shook his head again. "Come on!" _Shake shake_ "You suck." He rolled his eyes and I could have sworn that he chuckled quietly. I glared at him and rummaged through my backpack and grinned when I found one of the things I had borrowed from Ella. I opened the contained and grabbed and handful of the stuff. Smirking, I tucked the container away and snuck up and Fang and released the contents. He gasped in surprise, like a cat emerging from the water.

"Wow, he looks more colorful than he's ever looked," said Nudge thoughtfully, as Iggy and I rolled on the floor, laughing. Fang was covered in sparkly, multi-colored, heart-shaped confetti.

"Maximum Ride!" I closed my eyes in irritancy. Only one person ever called me that.

"What do you want, Lissa?" I asked as pleasantly as possible.

"What are you doing to my boyfriend?" she practically screeched.

"You mean other than giving him better company that you are?" I asked, feeling dread in my heart. Fang was her boy toy?

"Get away from him, you filthy slut!" she demanded. I looked over her shoulder.

"Hi coach!" She spun around so fast she fell over and we started laughing. Even Fang sort of smiled.

"He's not there!" she exclaimed furiously.

"I never said he was. Now how about getting out of my sight? Your ugly face is ruining the beautiful scenery." Lissa angrily stormed away and then stopped and turned to Fang.

"Aren't you coming?" she snapped. Nudge grabbed his arm quickly and smiled sweetly at her.

"Nope, sorry. I have to borrow my cousin for now." Lissa sniffed disdainfully and strutted off. "Please tell me you're not her boyfriend." _Shake_ "Wait, you are?" _Shake_ "So you're not her boyfriend, right?" _Nod_ "Oh, okay. I was getting worried."

**So, eh he he, I've been lazy so to make it up to you, I made this chapter a little bigger. Also, if you're reading my other stories, just know that they've been put on snooze for a while. They aren't on hold; goodness, no, but I've had a terrible writer's block so you won't be getting anything for a while. Sorry.**

**On ira, on saura, sauver notre existence…**

_**We know we will save our lives…**_


	9. Company

Turns out, Fang actually makes pretty good company when you're running. With J.J., you'll hear about how much she wants to date Dylan (ew) and with Nudge, you'll hear so much you'll be scarred for life. (Did you know that penguins throw up on you when you scare them? And something else I'd tell you but if you tried Googling it, I might get some pissed off people complaining about my telling you…) Iggy, on the other hand, listens to all my problems which is pretty beneficial. On the down side, after I finish listing them, he'll start acting like one of those people who ask you a bunch of stupid questions to try to make you feel better. You know; a psychiatrist. I had one of those people help me get over grandma's death a few years back and the memory of that still haunts me. Asking me if I regret punching Dylan in the face a getting a detention will only result in my punching the asker's face.

And then there's Fang who listens, never interrupts, and doesn't ask a bunch of stupid questions but will nod or shake his head or shrug when you ask him things. And then when he has to, he'll just look you straight in the eyes, like he's sending you a message. Half the time, I get them, even if he won't talk.

See how much better he is?

"When did you start track?" I asked as we jogged around the track for another round. He looked thoughtful and then held up five fingers. "Since you were five? That's around the time I started because my dad retired from being a scientist at Itex and started working here. Who first told you about track? Your mom?" He shook his head. "Your dad?" He shook his head again. "Who?" He didn't say anything but mouthed 'uncle' to me. "Your uncle?" Nod. "That's cool."

By the time we were finished, I had learned a few things about him. It got annoying, seeing as he couldn't talk. I managed, nonetheless. Nudge nudged me in the car on the way to Chocó Coco.

"Has he talked yet?" she whispered. I shook my head. She looked a bit worried. "He used to at least talk a little…"

"Really?" asked J.J. as we all filed into the ice cream shop. It's amazing how we can eat all this ice cream and not get sick.

"Yeah. I mean, he's always been quiet; the complete opposite of me. But at least he said _something_."

"Maybe he will say something soon," said Ella thoughtfully. "Maybe all he needs is someone to get to him." And it was right then and there I decided that I wanted to be the one to make him talk. Not Lissa (who is a swear word), not Nudge (even if I love her like a sister), but me.

"It's strange," said Iggy. "It's almost like he tries deliberately not to talk. Like he can and he wants to but a bigger part of him is stopping him from saying anything."

**Sorry it took so long and sorry for the awfully short and pretty much filler chapter. I've been busy lately. Lame excuse, but very true. Not to mention sick…for two weeks… I have a rough outline of where I'm going with this story except…I'm not exactly sure how to get there. (Funny thing, transitions…)**

**Anyways, has anyone ever heard of MNI? (Mugglenet Interactive?) Because we're playing monopoly and in need of a fan club… (hopeful face)**


	10. Why I Can't Talk

**I'm in an awfully crappy mood, which is why I'm writing poetry to get some stuff out of my system. It's turned into stuff that makes my friends debate on whether or not to drag me to the social worker or not. D: Oh dear…**

I slipped as silently as possible into the seat next to Fang in English the next day. I must have been pretty quiet because he didn't notice that I was there until I tapped his desk. He looked up at me in surprise but he was also sort of pleased to see me. At least, that's what it looked like.

"Hey." He nodded at me. Then he grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote on it.

'_Hey yourself.'_ I made a noise between a giggle and a laugh.

"So nice, aren't you?"

'_I know I am.'_

"Fang, why won't you talk?" I asked. _Wow, way to be subtle._

_'Because.'_

"Because…?"

'_I don't have anything to say.'_

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. I looked at him, stunned. "You have a lot to say! I mean, sure, you don't actually open your mouth and talk but there's so much stuff that you could be saying but you're just not saying it out loud. You're writing it on paper so I can see that you have thoughts that want to escape your mind but you never actually make yourself heard! Why?"

'_Because.'_

"Seriously!"

'_Okay, fine. It's like when you're chatting with someone online. It's a lot different than chatting in person; nothing there could have any emotion because you can't hear the person's tone of voice. And you can only see the thought once the person has written it down and sent it to you. After it's written down, you can have a second or two to make sure you wrote the right thing. You can delete what you wrote if you don't want to say it to the person. But when you talk out loud…there's no delete button.'_

"So what?" I asked. "How many things could you say and regret in one conversation?"

'_A lot.'_

"Oh really?"

'_I've said things that have chased people away. I scared them. When I write words down, I can wait a moment, reflect on what I'm about to say before I say it.'_

"Seriously? Wow, you've got more depth than I thought."

'_I'll take that as a compliment.'_ And there was a sudden surge of annoyance that stuck through me. I didn't know if he was being sarcastic, if he meant to say it in a wry manner, or if he really meant what he said.

"Couldn't you add a little note on what kind of tome you're using or something?" I asked, frustrated. He grabbed the piece of very doodled on paper and drew a little SarcMark and a little smiley face next what he just wrote. "Much better."

'_Everything I need to say, I can say it on paper.'_

"No you can't."

'_Yes I can.'_

**(A/N: I swear, it came out in an unexpected way but I'm keeping it like that. Right after I wrote that chunk on conversation, I went on YouTube to listen to 'Anything you can do, I can do better.')**

"Nuh uh!"

'_Yuh huh…'_

"There are a lot of things that you can't write on paper," I argued. "And besides, what if you can't spell something?" Fang suddenly smiled and I could have sworn that the world spun faster in the one moment. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled something out. A dictionary.

**Has it ever bothered anyone that typically, no matter what, we know that Max and Fang will in love in the end? And does it bother anyone that their own love life isn't nearly as perfect and that unlike Max and Fang, we don't know who we'll end up with in the end? No? Yes? Care to review?**

**By the way, I'm sorry for not updating in so long; I lost the only copy of this chapter when my flash drive went POOF! Then I found it which is why you have this update. :D  
**


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